The gallery recently celebrated its golden jubilee (publicised as 'Cymroza at 50') with a set of three exhibitions held in different venues across Mumbai. The first one that I saw was the Ranjit Hoskote-curated Mapping the Lost Spectrum at the Pundole Art Gallery. A veritable trove from the Jamshyd & Pheroza Godrej Collection, its high point was arguably Akbar Padamsee's Lovers series — one of them being his iconic painting from the early 1950s depicting an amorous couple in which a man is shown with his one hand tenderly placed over a woman's breast. The collection mostly consisted of the modernist vanguards, the likes of MF Husain, Manjit Bawa, Nasreen Mohamedi, Akbar Padamsee, Krishen Khanna, Rekha Rodwittiya etcetera. Pheroza has also collected ceramics, photography and prints, once considered undervalued creative practices but they nevertheless go on to reveal her eclectic taste in art. While the Pundole show has just concluded, viewers interested in Cymroza's journey can still visit the Chatterjee & Lal and Cymroza Art Gallery for two ongoing exhibitions (both on until October 30th) that capture the bygone era of Bombay's cultural zeitgeist. Curated by Nancy Adajania, The Unpaved, Crusty, Earthy Road (at Chatterjee & Lal) is an ode to Nelly Sethna's textile treasures. The Cymroza Chronicles at the Cymroza Art Gallery, on the other hand, is ground zero for Pheroza's lore. It's laden with archival material tracing her personal and professional odyssey as well as commemorating important milestones in the city's cultural history. For art lovers of a certain generation, a trip to The Cymroza Chronicles would be like a stroll down the memory lane. It's particularly true for Pheroza J Godrej, who not only saw history being made but also played a role in it.

Manjit Bawa

The Art of Being

Pheroza J Godrej: Mumbai’s Gallerist

Abhishek Poddar: Mapping the Visual India